National policy dialogue on the urban nexus in Indonesia, Jakarta, 26 October 2015 : report

The National Policy Dialogue on Urban Nexus highlighted the relevance of the urban nexus approach for Indonesia and allowed discussing key challenges and opportunities related to its adoption, including in terms of financing and governance. The workshop emphasized the need to move from sectoral to integrated approaches, an underlying principle of the nexus approach and one of the highlights in the "APUF-6 Jakarta Call-for-Action" adopted at the sixth Asia Pacific Urban Forum, organized by ESCAP on 19-21 October 2015 in Jakarta. It was emphasized that the implementation of future city plans required urgently enhancing the capacities of local governments to adopt integrated approaches such as the urban nexus, as well as mobilize the required financial resources. The workshop allowed discussing current challenges and opportunities in designing and implementing nexus projects by reviewing the experience of the two partner cities of Pekanbaru and Tanjungpinang

Advancing enabling policy environments for inclusive businesses in ASEAN

The objective of this publication is to inform policymakers and other stakeholders on the development of new business models that support sustainable and inclusive development. The new forms of enterprises allow markets to channel investments to populations at the base of the economic pyramid and to promote more balanced growth. The publication focuses on business, policy and legal frameworks in ASEAN and it may be particularly useful for policymakers in the Asia-Pacific region while also providing valuable insights for policymakers globally. The publication is an extract from the Report on Advancing Enabling Policy Environments for Inclusive Businesses in ASEAN, which was prepared as part of the work of ESCAP and the Inclusive Business Action Network to support Governments enhance the policy environment for inclusive business

Design Thinking Workshop : Naga City, Philippines, 10 –11 May 2017

GIZ is implementing the Regional Project &ldquo;Integrated Resource Management in Asian Cities: the Urban Nexus&rdquo; or &ndash; in brief &ndash; &ldquo;GIZ Nexus&rdquo;. The project is commissioned by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The political partner of the project is the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UN ESCAP) and the implementation partner is ICLEI SEAS. Within the context of the Urban Nexus Project starting in 2013 over a period of three years and a follow-up phase from 2016 to December 2018, twelve South and South East Asian partner cities in seven partner countries are provided with technical advice on urban planning and development approaches that include the interrelations and synergies of the sectors: water, energy and food security such as secure water supply and sanitation systems, energy security and efficiency, land use, physical planning and food security.</p

National dialogue on the urban nexus in Thailand, Bangkok, 19 March 2015 : report

The National Dialogue on the Urban Nexus in Thailand took place on 19 March 2015, in Bangkok, Thailand, and was organised by ESCAP in partnership with GIZ. The National Dialogue was organized in the context of the project "Integrated Resource Management in Asian Cities: The Urban Nexus", financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ in partnership with ESCAP, ICLEI and the Nexus partner cities, Chiang Mai and Nakhon Ratchasima being the two partner cities in Thailand. The meeting emphasized a number of barriers hampering the adoption of a nexus approach at city level, including: dependency of local governments on budgetary allocations from the central government; long time-frame to access funds; limited capacity of local governments to raise their own revenues; inability of local governments to access private financing; information asymmetries between different levels of government; and poor coordination between line ministries and departments. The meeting called for the need to strengthen institutional capacities of local governments and increase their ability to raise local revenues and to access different sources of financing

Final-report : energy efficient buildings as central part of integrated resource management in Asian cities : the urban Nexus II

This study by Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE examined impacts of passive and active measures to reduce energy demand in buildings in Thailand to advance (nearly) zero-energy or plus-energy buildings as the building concept for sustainable future development . The simulation results found that using a combination of measures could reduce energy demand by over 60%. Most measures analyzed had payback periods of less than six years and are economically feasible. Presentations from workshops conducted in Bangkok about the regulatory framework and planning reliability needed to advance a zero or plus-energy building concept are included.</p

Morgenstadt benchmarking and city development concepts : integrated resource management in Asian cities : the urban nexus and sustainable urban governance

Project number: 130829&nbsp;This report examines governance aspects in relation to food, water, and energy security in three nexus partner cities: Ulaanbaatar, Da Nang, and Korat. The study produces city-specific profiles that serve to develop strategic and systemic measures to support innovative and future-oriented city development, as well as supplying the cities with an instrument to be used further for self-evaluation.German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ

Evidencing Donor Heterogeneity in Aid for Trade

This paper is the culmination of a multi-country, multi-method investigation into the export effects of Aid for Trade (AfT). Building on previous single-donor statistical studies of AfT, this paper conducts a statistical study of 19 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) AfT donors and then examines the delivery and implementation of AfT in four recipient countries - Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Vietnam - from four donor countries - Germany, Japan, Norway and the US. The paper finds considerable variation in the export effects of the AfT programs, ranging from programs with no impact on recipient country exports to programs that are positively correlated with recipient country exports to the donor country and/or the rest of the world. Taking a closer look at the AfT programs of Germany, Japan, Norway and the US suggests that differences in program design and implementation may account for differences in AfT export effects.AM